November 19, 2007

Review: Spiritualized @ Vista Theatre

11/12/07, Los Angeles: U.K.'s Spiritualized, largely known for their fuzzy, shoegazey noise pop, stripped things down -- way down -- for their limited U.S. tour dubbed "Acoustic Mainlines."

Frontman Jason Pierce was joined by keyboardist Tim Lewis, a cute string quartet and a trio of gospel-influenced backing vocalists. Their two-night L.A. stand found them performing at the Vista Theatre, a gorgeous little indie moviehouse that occassionally hosts live music in its intimate environs. It's a fantastic place for a show like this.

Starting slowly, the band eventually brought the sold out crowd (including Kate Moss! Me-OUCH) to its feet during a medly that included their "Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating and Space" and a few bars of "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You."

The encore had the place quiet enough to here a pin drop onto a pile of cottonballs in the cold, dark vacuum of deep outer space, but they turned down the siren call for a second encore. No biggie -- they had already rocked the joint to its core.

Opener Simple Kid, from Ireland, delivered a smart solo set (backed by a laptop) that included a cover of Kermit the Frog's "It's Not Easy Being Green", which he performed with a video image of Kermit. Sorta like Natalie Cole and Nat "King" Cole.